More back story…..if you would like to know more. :-)
To follow on from my Welcome post.
Above: The sheer joy of selling my paintings! Thank you to all who have purchased over the years and supported my work.
This post is a little follow on from my Welcome post here and a deeper back story to my blogging journey.
When I first thought about starting a Substack, I decided to name it ‘Dream - Inspire - Create’. This was the name of my very first blog I started back in July 2009 when the online world felt like a cosy circle of like-minded friends, all typing on big computers (with dial up!) from our kitchen table or living room corner.
The old blogging world was a place where we would gather, write about our creative journeys and mostly share photos (on places like Flickr!) and talk about creative plans and dreams.
I would write from a little desk in the corner of my living room in Hoboken, NJ, in the US where I was living at the time (Oh yes, I am British by the way). I would paint and create on the living room floor of my apartment and film myself with a flip camera! It felt different to the online world now which is full of follows, adverts and algorithms.
When I started my blog in 2009, I worked in corporate America, in a windowless office dreaming of spending my days being creative. My blog was the beginning of that journey out of the windowless office into the world of art making, Etsy shops, street fairs, art retreats and so much more.
So at the time, `Dream - Inspire - Create’ was perfect.
Starting a blog helped me find community and it helped me take the leap into a new life. A life I still love, but I have to admit, the pressures of posting my art on social media has made me feel a little weary of late and I took an extended break to rest and reset to see how I would like my year ahead to unfold as I return to using these platforms.
Wistfully thinking of those early blogging days that are still so vivid in my mind. With the power of the Wayback machine, I can bring that young DREAM.INSPIRE.CREATE. blog back into my life and I am transported to those early days of writing and exploring my (30 something self) thoughts on what a creative life could look like.
Below is a little peak with thanks to the Wayback Machine/Web Archive Service.
This was before any type of social media was a daily norm and we would find each other through blog rolls on our sidebars (everyone was using blogspot in those days), swapping artists cards at art retreats or taking part in online challenges or art swaps.
In January 2009 (before my blog started), I had already began creating Vision Boards to solidify my creative dreams and this launched me into a whole new world of realisation for myself. I hosted an intentions brunch at my apartment with friends and we all ripped out images from magazines, ate, chatted about our dreams for the year ahead and toasted with champagne! A few months later, I started my blog!
I spent the first 6 months writing and capturing creative activities, dreaming about what it meant to be creative and how to make a transition away from the corporate world.
I had a lovely small audience and community which grew substantially after attending my first Art Retreat (February 2010) in California called “The Artful Journey”, where I met an amazing community of art friends retreating with the wonderful Kelly-Rae Roberts and Mati Rose McDonough.
Many of my soul sisters I met on that retreat and connected with in the early days of blogspot are still friends today and we continue to connect in this constantly evolving online world. Many of them are here in Substack too! Shout out to Beth Kempton, Kelly-Rae Roberts, Andrea Scher, Juliette Crane, Dana Barbieri, susannahconway, LOVE that Mindy is still on Blogspot! I am sure there are many more, I just have not reconnected with yet (I feel an urge to seek them out).
Then in November 2010, I launched my first online course! YES, 2010! It was called Big Dreams, Small Wonders and I continue to offer this course on my Learning Portal now! I still go through the same dreaming and planning process every year which is outlined in that program and also offer a free workbook and planner to help others live their own dream life.
It was my blogging community that inspired me to bring that e-course program to life and it constantly reminds me to continue to Dream Big and Celebrate the Small Wonders in life. In April 2010, I quit my corporate job, left that windowless office and embarked on a life full of more creativity and freedom and I shared some of the process of how I found the courage to do that on my blog and the rest, they say is history!
2010 was a big turning point for me and so was 2013 when I moved to Spain from the US (more on that another time!)
Above: The view from my Art Studio in Spain. I now live between Spain and the UK, so am currently renovating a new garden shed art space in England! More on that soon.
In 2011, I moved my blog to my main website and then social media took over and communities grew and changed. I kept writing, but the joy of the blog was taken over by shorter posts and images, then later, the dreaded algorithm and advertising.
I have felt a little disheartened by social media for a while and find I have bursts of energy to post regularly, followed by burn-out and then weeks of going inward.
Long story short, I miss those days of writing my thoughts and feelings on my blog for myself. I miss sharing the Small Wonders. I miss capturing the little things in life through writing. When revisiting my old blog, I realise how much I innocently (without agenda) captured in those blog posts.
Above: A few of my paintings from when I first moved to Spain.
So much has happened since, such as moving to other countries, books being published, artwork sold, over 20 online courses launched and many many Small Wonders to look back on and be celebrated.
Many of these were not captured on a blog and I feel a little saddened about that which is why now feels like the time to begin again. To write for myself (like no-one is reading!), capturing the journey as it continues….and on occasion looking back to celebrate some of those milestones that made me who I am creatively today.
Why Substack?
I started seeing many of my original blogging community create a space here. They said it felt a little like the old blogging days and I instantly felt a connection with wanting that feeling back to my writing again. I used to write alot in those days and feel I have lost that with social media.
I would like to combine the joy of writing about my creative journey with my newsletter community and I love that you as a reader can choose to subscribe to my posts here so you can get notified when I post something. You can choose to read it or not! We do not have to rely on a big old algorithm to connect us. Like an old blog, you can also also comment, so I would LOVE to hear your thoughts as I travel along and share also.
I would LOVE to meet you here!
If you've read this far, thank you! I’m so glad you’re here! If you would like to receive my posts via email, please subscribe at the bottom of this page.
Please also introduce yourself in the comments. I’d really love to connect with you. If you are not sure what to write, here are some ideas!
Let me know where you are from.
Tell me if you have been following me for a while or are new to my work.
DREAM: What is the dream for your creative life?
INSPIRE: What inspires you the most?
CREATE: What are your favorite materials to create with or which ones are on your wish list to try!
And so… it begins again. The creative road ahead with all its bends, twists and turns. What a life we can create for ourselves. I will see you there.
Lots of love Louise xx